


Gummy Shoes and Crummy Weather

by MaK



Category: Grojband
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-21
Updated: 2014-03-21
Packaged: 2018-01-16 11:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1345363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaK/pseuds/MaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laney, after having a terrible day, waits on a bench for a bus that is over twenty minutes late and broods about just how bad her day was.</p><p>Nick, being as caring as he is, stops by to see how she's doing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gummy Shoes and Crummy Weather

The first bus had passed her by nearly two hours ago, the rain had started about a minute later, and the wind got worse only half an hour ago. She was freezing, drenched in water, and ultimately in a sour mood. Of course, she wouldn't be so upset had the clerk at the jewelry store just let her off without seven cents change. Seriously, who even cares about seven pennies? Not to mention, the lady in charge of the gas station wouldn't allow her in when they were closing in thirty minutes. Who would take thirty minutes to buy some gum and chips? A grandma? Did she look like a grandma? 

To put it in short, Laney Penn was having a crummy day.

The weather had only made things worse. Her hair, wet with rain and frizzy due to the humidity, looked like a mess. Her wet clothes were also sticking to her uncomfortably, which didn't look all that nice, either. She couldn't glance into the gas station's window anymore to see how she looked; it had gotten so dark out that it was getting hard to see. Which, to make her even more irritable, made it easier to be blinded by every single vehicle that wasn't a bus. It was supposed to arrive twenty minutes ago, but evidently the driver had more important things to do other than his job. 

Did she mention that there was gum on her shoe?

Obsessing about the aggravating treatment she received today, Laney hardly noticed when another body joined her on the bench. Not even the stranger's greeting passed through her ears, but who could be blamed when they had gum on their shoe?

"Nick thinks this girl is in a bad mood," the brunette teen announced. This time, he spoke a tad louder, hoping to grab the girl's attention. 

Laney snapped her head his way, surprised at his sudden appearance. "Oh," she muttered, "Hey, Nick. Is Trina close by? I really, really don't want to deal with that sort of thing right now." She groaned, slouching over and putting her face in her palm. Quite frankly, she didn't want to talk to anyone, either.

He shook his head. "Nick thinks Trina is staying out of the rain..." Nick paused, then added, "As should all pretty girls."

She rolled her eyes and blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Yeah, they probably should." Laney didn't want to be rude, but hopefully he got the message to shut up. She just wanted to brood. 

The boy made a confused, even dumbfounded face at her words. He didn't get the message, as he went on, "Nick was referring to you; you aren't looking so happy in this weather, Laney Penn."

When did he ever know her name? Not that it mattered, but Laney consistently considered herself a nobody outside of her close circle of friends. "No, I'm not happy in this weather."

"Nick asks, why?"

She rolled her eyes again. What was with all his third person speech? To humor him, though, Laney began to complain. "Well, my day did start out fine. I even got an extra twenty dollars from Kin to go and buy some guitar strings and drum sticks. But, of course, no one decided to tell me that the music shops were closed on Saturday. It is pretty stupid that I, having been playing music for two years, wouldn't know that already, right? Like, completely stupid." She shielded her eyes as another car came zooming past, and went on, "But, I figured, I was already on the other end of town. I'd catch a bus back at seven and go home after I got some other stuff."

"Continue," Nick added in.

"Well, I go to the jewelry shop to get some new earrings, right? I get two pairs and I go up to the dude and he's all like, 'Sorry, you need seven more pennies.' And the only thing I have is a twenty dollar bill, which he isn't going to break for less than a dime. But, who carries seven pennies on them? So, the guy acts all macho and ends up making me leave without just giving me a break on seven cents." Laney took a deep breath, partly to continue speaking and also to let the pent up anger get away from her. After a moment, she continued, "I figure, fine! I don't need that place or their overpriced jewelry anyway!"

Nick gave her a thumbs up. "Nick thinks letting grudges go is cool."

She looked over at him and grinned. Sure, he was wrong about the letting grudges go part, seeing as she still wanted to punch that guy in the face, but it was cute to see someone so full of kindness. "Anyway," Laney started again. "Before coming here, I went to get some chips and gum from the gas station over there. The lady decides that she doesn't want to work half an hour from closing. Thirty minutes! I just wanted chips and gum, not a three hour long shopping spree at a convenient store! And that got me loads of angry."

He nodded his head in understanding.

Lastly, Laney said, "Plus, it's not like this weather has got me feeling any better about all of it." But, when thinking about it, after letting out such a long rant to Nick, she did feel better. She also realized how rare it was that she did get to let off steam to anyone; Corey and Kon were both too energetic to listen very long, then Kin just didn't really care. It felt nice, she thought.

"Nick can agree with that," he sighed in exasperation. "This weather has got Nick feeling loads of blue. He's sorry you had such a bad though."

Laney grinned and responded, "Thanks."

The quietness afterwards was more comfortable than Laney would have thought it would be. Her and Nick, though they had met and made small talk on multiple of occasions, were never friends. He was too busy being a caring, loving, sports playing lover boy, while she was simply jamming out on the bass in a garage. They would have met more had Trina ever taken him home, but the very idea of Corey's sister successfully getting her crush to date her was enough to make Laney snicker. 

Nick disturbed the silence by asking, "Nick wonders, do you know when the bus is supposed to get here?"

She furrowed her brow, as this was another thing to be upset about. "Well, it gets here at around nine. But, it's been about... forty minutes since the clock struck." Laney groaned, but whispered under her breath, "Would it kill the driver to do his job?"

"Nick definitely does not want to wait that long," the teen stood up and looked down the road. "Nick thinks he's going to jog home, but," he paused, staring at Laney. 

The way he stood above her had her feeling small - not inferior, but tiny.

Much to her surprise, Laney was soon covered in a pile of red that was warm and smelled like grass and reminded her of sunny days. "Nick hopes you don't catch a cold. Stay cool, Laney Penn." Nick winked at her before he began jogging to his house, much like the athlete he was. 

As she watched him go, Laney felt her face warm up. After putting on and zipping up the jacket, she felt significantly warmer, as if she could sleep on this bench. She had never paid much attention, but Nick was a seriously cool dude. After the thought crossed her mind, it wouldn't leave.

The bus came an hour and ten minutes late, the driver grouchy and in no mood for talk. That was fine, Laney just wanted to be home and in her bed. On the ride, she wondered a lot of things about Nick. Did he always sit with girls in the rain? How many did he call pretty? That was a dumb question, Laney reminded her self. Nick complimented everyone. She added that to the list of things that were sweet about the guy, a list that was soon growing and getting hard to keep track of. 

When she finally go home and landed on her bed, her last thought was:

Is this how Nick Mallory gets girls to fall for him?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a request, but... It's awful cute to think about...
> 
> I may ship it.


End file.
